In late June, the Royal Library/BIBSAM signed agreements for national
licenses with Academic Press, Ebsco, and Johns Hopkins University
respectively, giving Swedish universities and university colleges full
access to the digital, full text versions of nearly 1 500 scientific
journals. Initially, the agreements are heavily subsidized by the Royal
Library.

According to these agreements the subscribers are ensured an archival copy
of/selective access to the relevant journals, covering the years they
actually paid for, and publicly financed libraries which have not signed
the agreements can freely be provided with copies of articles (digital or
on paper).

Of course, the subscribers are under no obligation to continue their paper
subscriptions. In fact, our reason for intervening financially is to
promote the transition from paper to digital access.